Door latch striker



y 1950 J. c. BRILL ET AL 2,936,190

DOOR LATCH STRIKER Filed July 2, 1959 INVENTO S J-H'Nc. 6RILL HND JOHN F R TH BY AW, Mum-@1344 United States Patent DOOR LATCH STRIKER John C. Brill and John F. Roth, Lowell, Mich., assignors to Newell Manufacturing Company, Lowell, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application July 2, 1959, Serial No. 824,626

g 2 Claims. (Cl. 292-44117) spring, which permits the dog to be pressed toward the jamb by the latch when the door is being closed, so that the latch can ride over the dog. An objection to such strikers has been that many times the exertion of opening pressure on the closed door, without the knob being turned, will cause the latch to push the striker dog toward the door jamb and thereby release the latch.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide a door latch striker in which the striker dog cannot be forced out of engagement with the latch by pulling or pushing on the door While closed.

In accordance with this invention a striker housing is provided with front and back walls and inner and outer side walls. The back wall is formed for attachment to a door jamb, and the front wall has an opening through it adjacent the outer side wall of the housing, which is nearest to the door. A lever is disposed in the housing, with one end pivoted on a vertical axis adjacent the inner wall and is movable toward and away from that wall. Joined to the opposite end of the lever and projecting from the front opening is a dog, which is formed to overlap the outer wall of the opening and thereby lock the dog in its projecting position. The lever normally is held in dog-locking position by resilient means inside the housing. Also, the lever is movable toward the inner side wall of the housing far enough to release the dog from the outer wall of the opening when the outer face of the dog is struck by a latch on a closing door. The dog then can swing into the housing to permit the latch to pass, whereupon the dog will spring out again and hold the latch.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of our striker;

Fig. 2 is a view of the outer side of the striker with part of the housing broken away;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the striker with part broken away; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3 and showing the striker mounted on a door jamb and engaged by a door latch.

Referring to the drawings, a metal striker housing has a front wall 1 spaced from a back Wall 2 by means of inner and outer side walls 3 and 4 and upper and lower end walls 5 and 6. Vertical extensions of the back wall are provided with horizontal slots 7 for receiving screws, by which the housing can be secured to a door jamb- 8 beside a latch 9 carried by a door 10 as shown in Fig. 4. The outer side wall 4 of the housing is at the side nearest the door. The front wall 1 of the housing is provided adjacent its outer side wall with a rectangular opening 12, through which a striker dog 13 projects. The dog is joined to one end of a wide lever 14 that extends in behind the housing front wall. The inner end of the lever has upwardly and downwardly projecting pins 15 that are pivotally mounted in seats 16 formed at the top and bottom of the housing. The

pins are held in their seats by projecting lugs 17 on the back wall of the housing. For assembly purposes, the portion of the back wall carrying the lugs is made as a separate piece 18 that is inserted and held in place in any suitable manner after the lever has been put in position. The back wall piece 18 engages bosses 19 on the top and bottom walls of the housing at the outer sides of seats 16.

Coiled around each pin is a torsion spring 20 having two legs projecting toward the outer side wall of the housing. The front legs 21 extend back across the lever and engage the back of it about midway between its ends, and are held in place 'by integral projections 22 on the lever. The rear legs 23 of the springs are longer and their outer end portions extend through holes in the back wall and into slots 24 above and below housing opening 12. These spring legs press against the edges of piece 18 at the entrance to the slots, as shown in Fig. 4, and can slide across those edges. 'It is obvious that the springs normally keep the dog 13 fully projected from the housing opening so that its outer portion can engage the door side of latch 9 to hold the door closed.

It is a feature of this invention that pressure of the door latch against the inner face of the striker dog cannot swing it back into the housing and release the latch. This highly desirable result is accomplished because the tendency of the legs of each spring to spread apart urges the spring toward outer wall 4 of the striker housing. Since the springs are coiled around the lever pins 15 and the space between inner wall 3 and bosses 19 is purposely made wider than the pins, the pins can move away from the inner wall a short distance. That distance is great enough to cause a ledge 26 on the striker dog to overlap the outer wall of the housing as shown in Fig. 4, whereby the dog is locked in its projecting position as long as the door latch engages the inner face of the dog. No amount of pulling on the door will cause the dog to swing into the housing. However, when the open door is being closed, the latch will strike the outer face of the dog and push it and the lever toward the inner Wall of the housing until the dog has cleared the outer wall 4 of the housing, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 4. The lever pins can slide across their seats far enough for this purpose. Further closing of the door then will cause the latch to swing the dog into the housing far enough to permit the latch to pass over the nose of the dog. Thereupon, the springs will swing the dog out again and simultaneously move it toward the door to project its ledge 26 over the outer wall of the housing and thereby lock the dog in projected position again.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the apthe back wall being' formed for attachment to a door jamb, the front wall having an opening therethrough adjacent said outer wall, a lever disposed in the housing with one end pivoted on a vertical axis adjacent said inner wall and movablettoward and away from that wall, a dog joined to the opposite end of. the lever and projecting from said opening, the dog being formed to overlap the outer wall of said opening to lock the dog in its projecting position, and resilient means in the housing urging the lever toward said outer and front walls, the lever being movable toward said inner wall far enough to release the dog from said outer wall of the opening when the outer face of the dog is struck by'a latch on a closing door, whereby the dog can swing into the housing to permit the latch to pass the dog.

2. A door latch striker comprising a housing provided with front and back walls and inner and outer side walls, the back wall being formed for attachment to a door j'amb, the front wall having an opening therethrough adjacent said outer wall, a lever disposed in the housing with one end located adjacent said inner wall and provided with vertically projecting pins at top and bottom pivotally supporting the lever, the lever also being movable toward and away from said inner wall, a dog joined to the opposite end of the lever and projecting from said opening, the dog being formed to overlap the outer wall of said opening to lock the dog in its projecting position, and a torsion spring mounted on each of said pins and having front and back leg portions compressed toward each other and extending toward said outer wall of the housing, the housing being provided with surfaces slidingly engaged by the outer portions of said back legs of the spring, the front legs of the springs pressing forward against the lever to urge it toward said front wall, the lever being movable toward said inner'wall far enough to release the dog from said outer wall of the opening when the outer face of. the dog is struck by a latch on a closing door, whereby thedog can swinginto the housing to permit the latch to pass the dog, the tendency'of said legs to spring'apart urging the springs and lever toward said outer wall of the housing when the dog is released.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 20 2,113,747 Roedding et al. Apr. 12, 1938 2,322,892 Springer June 29, 1943 2,893,775 George July 7, 19 59 FOREIGN PATENTS 745,236 France Feb. 14, 1933 745,804 7 France Feb. 21, 1933 

